Ship builders could sail back to the Tyne to construct two £4billion vessels

Defence chiefs revealed they are considering switching production of two £4billion aircraft carriers to the region.

Following years of decline in the North East's shipping industry, the news will be a massive boost to the local economy which has struggled to recover from the Northern Rock crisis.

The ship-building industry on the Tyne has declined, but defence chiefs are now considering switching the production of two aircraft carriers to the region

Work on the ships, to be called the HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales, will bring up to 600 jobs and is estimated to be worth in the region of £300million.

It is currently being carried out in Cumbria. But with the shipyard in Barrow-in-Furness running at near full capacity with workers building a submarine for the Royal Navy, the Ministry of Defence is likely to move production to the North-East.

A senior industry source described the imminent decision to transfer the work on the carriers to the Tyne, a labour heartland, as a 'win-win' situation for the Government.

The source told the Mail: 'The MoD has not decided, but it is 85 per cent there.'

The carriers, due to enter service in 2014 and 2016, will be the biggest and most powerful surface warships built for the Royal Navy.

The work is headed by a joint venture between defence firms BAE Systems and VT Group.